Operation Slam Spam

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Federal and state law enforcement agencies in the US have quietly arrested or charged dozens of people with crimes related to junk e-mail, identity theft and other online scams in recent weeks, The New York Times reports.

The cases, which have been brought by law enforcement offices around the country, are expected to be announced by Attorney General John Ashcroft on Thursday.

The Justice Department announcement expected on Thursday is meant to highlight several different government actions related to computer crime. The department has conducted a handful of similar operations in the past, calling them cyber sweeps, but the crackdown, known as Operation Slam Spam, to be disclosed this week is thought to be the biggest by far.

Many of the cases were developed by an unusual investigative team that combined federal law enforcement officials and executives from industries that do business through the Internet.